Tennis has seen some outstanding contests over the years, with the likes of Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008 and the 2012 Australian Open Finals or Qiang Wang vs Serena Williams at the Australian Open 2020, just to name a few.
Whilst we’ve seen some epic contests, none compare to the longest tennis match ever, which took place at Wimbledon back in 2010 and was so epic that it ended up causing a major rule change.
John Isner and Nicholas Mahut managed to create sporting history when they took to one of Wimbledon’s iconic courts, and we’ll be looking at that match in this article!
Here is everything you need to know about the longest Tennis match ever, including the competitors and the venue for the titanic clash.
What is the longest game of tennis ever played?
A typical tennis match tends to last around 90-minutes on average, but this wasn’t the case between the American Isner and the Frenchman Mahut, who played for a staggering 665 minutes.
The first 4 sets saw Isner win the first 6-4, then Mahut would take the lead going into the fourth after winning 6-3 and 7-6.
However, Isner would pull it back for a fifth set after winning the fourth set 7-6, but it was the tie-breaker that caught the eye of spectators.
What is the longest match in the world?
The fifth set was set to be played the following day due to a lack of natural light. However, due to no man winning on the second-day play had to advance to a third.
Furthermore, as they were about to go into the 95th game of the fifth set, the scoreboard broke as it wasn’t programmed to go beyond this point.
The game eventually saw a victor in the 137th and 138th game of the fifth set, which ultimately saw Isner break Mahut down and prevail as the victor and advance to the second round, winning 70-68 in the fifth set and making tennis history.
What happened after?
However, the marathon man Isner was beaten in straight sets as fatigue began to show against Dutch player Thiemo De Bakker who prevailed in 3 sets after winning 6-0, 6-2 and 6-3.
Even though the loss was disappointing, Isner and Mahut have cemented themselves in tennis history, and now Court 18 at Wimbledon has a sign to commemorate the record-breaking match.
The Tie-Breaker Rule
It is very unlikely this record will ever be broken after tennis incorporated a tie-breaker rule to decide final sets.
The Australian Open and Wimbledon operate in a system that if the game is tied at 6-6, a tie-breaker will see a first to ten points system played to determine a winner, whereas the French Open still tends to use the old system.
Therefore, a historical game like this could occur, but it is unlikely it will occur at Wimbledon again.
Isner and Mahut met again at the following Wimbledon, but Isner would again prevail as the victor after winning in straight sets.
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